The Inshight i never got

As I sit entirely indulged in my book with my already blown neck rest and blind folds neatly placed on my lap, a loud gentle male voice snaps me out of my trance as he asks me “Can I pass? I am seated next to you in 28 I”. He beams at me with a smile, and I think to myself in dismay “oh no….a talker”. I remove the items off my lap, hold my book in one hand and stand up to allow him to pass my seat to get to his. As I flop back into my seat and start re-arranging everything as it was before his arrival he decides to introduce himself and his friend; seated in 28J to me “Hi, my name is Fuad and this is Jannah” he stretches out his hand and I am forced to take it, smile back and introduce myself. “We were in a seminar, learning how to communicate effectively and attract potential clients” he continues to say as he fiddles around in his brown hand bag bringing out two books to entertain him during the flight. I take a peek at the books he is extracting from his hand bag and realize that this guy could be of some interest; maybe I can spend a few more minutes talking to him before i dive back into my book. As cheerful as a cheerleader Fuad starts to ask me questions regarding who I am and where I work, I respond cautiously uninterested in providing any answers, more interested in knowing what seminar he was attending. I take a quick look at my book and contemplate opening it up to start to read or to give a few more minutes to Fuad in hopes of acquiring any new insights that I may learn from this encounter. “I think it is best to talk on the plan and get to know who is sitting next to you. People never do that, and I always wonder why not?” he starts to ramble on “that is why I am going to put in the effort to always talk to the people sitting next to me on the plane, it is always good to make new contacts in every environment I am in” Fuad says this with a wide smile and a knowing look. I stare at him for a few seconds and right before he starts to ask me some more uncalled for questions I calmly tell him that I disagree with his philosophy and start to open up my book. His mouth closes, and with interest he leans closer; as I lean further away, and asks me “Please explain your point of view to me”. I take a deep breath, move my body around a bit so that I can face him and simply say “ I believe that life is full of things to do as it is, the only time a person has for themselves is when they are on an airplane.” Fuad then moves around in his seat, looking more interested in what I have to say, and so i close my book again and I continue to say ”Your daily life is spent at work, on the phone, with friends, in outings and there is never any time where you can feel no guilt in doing nothing. When you’re on vacation then you are busy all the time calling friends, seeing things, going places. If it is a business trip then you’re busy seeing clients, having planned dinners and working on urgent matters from your hotel room. If it is a holiday spent in your home town, then the whole vacation is spent seeing family and old friends, making sure no time goes to waste since there is such limited time to see everyone.” He nods in agreement, tilts his head sideways, scratches his chin and asks me to continue. I look at him intensely and notice a change in his flamboyant attitude, the “know it all” attitude that he portrayed to me from the minute he asked me to allow him to pass. Seeing that he is open to really listen to what I am saying I agree to continue.

 “Well, the only time I have for myself, with no guilt, is on a plane. On the plane it is my time, there are no phone calls that I have to respond to or make, there is no one I have to go see, there are no plans that I have to contemplate on doing or not. There is nothing but me, my book, the small tv screen in front of me and the possibility to sleep at my own free will. Therefore I don’t believe in having to socialize on the plane and make connections with strangers since I have to do that in my everyday life. I don’t have to sit and put into consideration someone else outside of myself for those few hours. I can only think of my pleasure and what I want to do.” Fuad looks at me after I am done telling him my point of view. I twist myself back into the normal sitting position on the plane ready to start reading my book, in hope of having him understand the importance of what i told him. He is quiet and I know he is absorbing what I had just offered him. A few seconds later he tells me I am so right, he never thought about it that way. I feel a sense of pleasure in  providing an insight to him, although I was waiting for an insight from him and not the other way around. I open up my book, cuddle further into my narrow seat and start reading my book in silence, at my own pleasure, with no further interruptions from the straanger sitting next to me.